Planting Season: Advice from the front lines on eliminating those costly and time-consuming bottlenecks

Monday, April 2, 2012

Three Ontario farmers offer their solutions to avoiding those frustrating glitches, holdups and inefficiencies that can result in you missing those all-important windows for planting

by MARY BAXTER

Weeks of rain were over. The corn hybrids were shuffled. The 16-row planter was in the field ready to go. That's when Chris Burkholder's GPS satellite signal failed.

"Our planter was sitting still for three hours," says the sturdy Stouffville area farmer, remembering one final glitch in last spring's long delayed planting season.

In the greater scheme of things, an outage of that duration is small potatoes compared to something like the 2003 power blackout across northeastern North America. But, during planting, when farmers must work quickly to get seeds into the ground to make the most of the growing season, such delays can create a domino effect, leading to other holdups, unnecessary expense and even late plantings.

Each spring Ontario's farmers face situations that have the potential to create a planting bottleneck. Maybe, as in Burkholder's case, it's a problem with a satellite broadcast or wireless technology. Or maybe it's something a little more prosaic. Bad weather. Broken tiles. An equipment glitch.

Over the years, efforts to eliminate common bottlenecks have influenced planting preparation and implementation. Take, for example, the growth in the size of planters in the past few decades. In turn, their growth has prompted a shift to liquid fertilizer from dry, notes Greg Stewart, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' corn specialist. Liquid fertilizer reduces the number of times equipment needs to be refilled during planting, he explains. "From a context of time and change in planter size, that's probably been one of the biggest changes. "

Sometimes one solution creates another problem. Years ago, when a four-row planter was the norm, planting speed was the bottleneck, says Stewart. Larger corn planters addressed speed, "so the bottleneck becomes that we don't have enough ground which is tiled well enough and dries out quick enough to keep our $125,000 planter moving all the time."

For Burkholder, who farms 2,500 acres (he custom farms another 1,500 acres) with his father Howard and brothers Rich and Ryan, one of the biggest challenges is how to accelerate planting and begin at an earlier date.

The family previously used a moldboard plow in the fall, which meant having to do two or even three tillage passes in the spring. They put tanks on their tractor to spray herbicides before planting and applied nitrogen through their cultivator.  

But with hardier seed varieties came the opportunity to plant earlier and Burkholder's planting records indicate that earlier corn plantings lead to higher yields. "The odd time there might be a stress that comes in, such as an early frost when the corn is out of the ground, that sets it back some," he says.

At the same time, however, the planting windows remain small "and we want to be able to take advantage of them as well as we can." The goal is to be ready to plant corn on April 10 and soybeans on April 25, and to take four days in total to plant both.

Field drainage has been a major strategy to ensure fields dry faster. Currently, about 1,000 acres of Burkholder's land is systematically tiled and another 500 have natural drainage or some tiling. But tiling is not practical on the remaining land. Developers own it and they are reluctant to lease for more than a year at a time.

The split between well and poorly drained land means two different approaches to preparing the seedbed, where the goal in the fall is to leave the land smooth enough for one tillage pass in the spring.

"On the tile-drained land, fall tillage isn't as important to us," Burkholder explains. "We want to leave lots of residue on when we can. We want to leave it level, so perhaps a light disking on that land." They till the poorly drained land more aggressively to make it "a little blacker on top to dry out," and try to leave it level.

Four years ago, Burkholder added row cleaners to the planter to further reduce the amount of tillage beforehand. He has also exchanged tanks on their tractor for a 120-foot sprayer boom to deliver herbicides and nitrogen after finding the planter was waiting on spraying too often.

Streamlining the process
With the additional efficiency comes an attitude change: "We refuse to wait on the sprayer," he says. If the sprayer can't get there before planting, he will till and apply a pre-emergent mix. "We have to be willing to be flexible. Sometimes guys want to stick to a system, so it's at the expense of planting quickly."

There are many other ways the Burkholders streamline the process. They load a day's worth of seed and fertilizer on the truck. Two people are assigned to load so as to minimize the amount of time the planter stays still. They've used liquid rather than dry starter fertilizer for years.   

Despite last year's glitch, guidance technology has really helped by reducing overlaps and increasing efficiency in delivering inputs per acre, he says. "We can plant faster with that for sure and there's less operator fatigue with the auto steer." But, he warns, it becomes a bottleneck if you're not prepared for it. "You need to train your employees on it before the season."

Burkholder faces another daunting challenge: commuter traffic. Between the shop and one farm are 34 traffic lights. "If we get done on that farm at the wrong time of the day, we go home and come back later to move the stuff," he says, noting that they won't move between the farms during rush hour. Extra care is always taken on the roads. Injury is the obvious risk but equipment can also be damaged and put out of commission. Unmotivated employees can also slow the process. He does the same for his employees as he does for the hockey team that he coaches as a volunteer – motivate them and prepare them through training. "Get them excited about what we're going to do and then, when the season hits, they're raring to go."

Everyone uses BlackBerrys and, the night before a busy day, he'll text the priorities. Days often run from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. during planting, but Burkholder has not yet moved to round-the-clock operations.

On the other hand, when necessary, Harry Biermans does. On his farm – 4,000 acres of mostly corn, soybeans, wheat and canola in a radius of 30 miles around his main location at Dobbinton in Bruce County – he'll dedicate up to seven people, including himself, to planting.

"We do a fair bit of custom work," which can take people away from his own crops, he explains. "That's why we need more people."

Staff work in shifts and they mostly communicate using two-way radios and occasionally cell phones and texting if they're out of radio range. He prefers two-ways to texts because "you get more information. Employees elaborate. You can tell by the sound of their voice whether they're happy with it."

In late winter, Biermans begins co-ordinating activities and crops using computer spread sheets to compile information, such as seed variety, seeding rate, chemical applications and their rates, fertility and logistics. He groups crops together to avoid backtracking and distributes the spread sheets to the equipment operators so they can check against them. Plans do get changed, but the spread sheet remains "an outline," he says.

As well, every machine has a job book where operators log their activities and field information. The record is critical, not only for his operation but also for calculating billing for custom farming.

During planting, Biermans scouts ahead to determine soil condition and co-ordinate equipment and supplies. "If you've got one person doing that, your efficiencies change dramatically," he says. Everyone then has a clear idea of where they are going next and there are no hold-ups with seed or fertilizer not arriving at the field when needed.

All his own land is tiled and drained. Ensuring the soil is well drained "goes a long way to helping us in the spring."

Strip tiller offers savings
To increase efficiency, Biermans has also tried to create large fields, some as large as 200 acres. He'll merge farms by taking fences out and clearing stone piles. Combine the larger spaces with automatic guidance and the return – in terms of time efficiencies, savings on inputs and extra acreage – is worth the investment.

On one of the farms where he restructured the fields last year, it used to take nearly an hour to go around obstacles during planting and spraying. "It doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're looking at getting rained out, an hour sooner may give you 30 more acres planted," he says.

Biermans continues to fine-tune his approaches. Subtle changes in weather events – he uses the example of receiving on average three to five inches of water when it rains, compared to an inch of rain in past years – makes runoff, as well as soil and wind erosion, a high priority. So, this year, he bought a strip tiller for corn, anticipating it will save costs, too.

The strip tiller will leave two-thirds of the soil in fields untouched and extend the life of the cover crops he's introduced – red clover mostly – before the fall burn-down. He plans to use the strip tiller in the fall after manure is applied. Fertilizer will also be applied in the fall to balance the manure application. "So all we need to do is put a liquid pop-up (fertilizer)" in the spring, he says. "We're not being hung up by putting huge amounts of dry fertilizer on."

New equipment, however, presents new challenges. He's been applying nitrogen and herbicide with a sprayer before the crop is planted, or splitting nitrogen applications between spring and late June to prevent leaching. "With strip tilling, I'm not sure how we're going to do that because we're applying nitrogen on the surface and I'm not sure I'm going to like that," he says.

He's considering applying it with a streamer, where the nitrogen comes out as a stream rather than a spray, to decrease the nitrogen's volatility. He also plans to continue splitting the applications.

Biermans has noticed other small changes in climate. Up until five years ago, when a break in the weather appeared, it often held for the whole planting period. Now, even if there's no rain predicted, there's still a greater chance it will happen, interrupting planting momentum.

Equipment maintenance is a key activity during the winter months. Bearings, chains and belts are checked and changed, even when it might seem they're "basically still OK." Taking the precaution to change those parts during winter is far less costly than if they cause downtime in the field, he points out. For that reason, he also tries to keep newer equipment on hand. "There's nothing more frustrating than breaking down, so I make sure the equipment is in good shape."

Like figure skating
When he talks about the importance of advance preparation for planting, Frank Dietrich refers to the adage, "If you've got the first 10 acres done, then you're half done." Dietrich farms 1,500 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and occasionally edible beans with his wife and two sons near Lucan in north Middlesex County. He likens planting to figure skating, where months of training culminate in a few minutes of performance and detailed preparations are essential.

So, as equipment is washed in the fall, the family lists the repairs needed and prepares a parts list for maintenance over the winter. If one wheel bearing is shot on the planter, "we'll change them all," he says. "Parts for planters are cheap. It's just the labour putting them on." Seed discs in row units are also changed after 250 acres per row of wear.

Along with checking equipment, the Dietrichs review toolbox supplies (including duct tape stocks), confirm that manuals are in the equipment, restock equipment supplies and ensure both fertilizer and seed arrive at the farm two weeks before planting. They always read the label on the seed bag to determine seeding rates and equipment settings.    

That precautionary attitude pays off. Last year, as bad weather delayed planting for weeks, Frank realized he'd have to exchange his full-season corn hybrids for something requiring fewer corn heat units. As he picked up the phone, he wasn't worried about whether his seed dealer would accept the return. He had worked out that possibility in advance. "You have to be prepared it will happen," he explains. "We always have a plan B."

Streamlining the process and maximizing resources are other guiding principles Dietrich applies to planting. He limits the number of hybrid varieties to reduce the number of stops to change them. New equipment "takes time to get going," so he tests it in advance. Each year, he tests the planter on the farm lane to ensure the settings are correct.

During planting, the family uses daylight hours to get seed into the ground. Once in the field, they stay there. They bought trailers and a larger fertilizer wagon to keep enough inputs, such as fertilizer, to carry them through. When they didn't have storage, they found they often ran out on weekends or at night when suppliers were closed, Frank explains.

Innovations such as GPS make it easier to cope with the pressures of planting. Refuge in a bag, a concept seed companies launched last year, will be a major time-saver, he predicts. The bag combines corn engineered to protect against insects with corn lacking these traits. Non-engineered corn is required to create areas where insects can develop without exposure to the toxins in the engineered corn. The strategy slows the insects' development of resistance to the toxins. Combining both in one bag eliminates the need to calculate the amount of refuge and set up the planter for two different types of seed.

Ultimately, balance is the best way to manage bottlenecks, Stewart concludes. Don't make decisions about changing the process without examining the implications, he advises. Try to place the problem within a larger context and remain open-minded about solutions. Develop solutions that suit your circumstances.

Weather and faulty satellite signals might be beyond our control, but with planning, many others risks can be eliminated or managed. "I think at the end of the day it's a bit of a learning curve where you're sometimes not 100 per cent sure of where the challenges are until you make a move," he says. BF

Tips for avoiding bottlenecks

Frank Dietrich

Where he farms: Near Lucan, Middlesex County
What he farms: Corn, soybeans, wheat and occasionally edible beans
Acreage: 1,500
His tips:

• Spring starts in the fall. The fields have to be ready for the spring to enable the least amount of passes possible. Make sure your fertilizer levels are applied so you don't have to apply that much in the spring.
• Have that planter ready. Wheel bearings, everything has to be checked, checked, checked. Throw those seed discs out. If one bearing is shot, change them all.
• When you're in the field, stay there. Make sure your lunch and everything is there.

Harry Biermans

Where he farms: Near Dobbinton, Bruce County
What he farms: Corn, soybeans, wheat, canola, occasionally white beans and last year some hemp
Acreage: 4,000
His tips:

• Be ready. That involves everything from planning to having equipment in tip-top shape so you can just turn the key and go.
• Scout ahead to know when your fields are ready or whether there are any potential problems. Whether it's planting, spraying or whatever, scouting has helped me so much in efficiencies.
• Do what you can do today so tomorrow is easier. Whether that requires doing tillage in the fall, whatever works for your system, so that when spring comes, it doesn't come all at once.

Chris Burkholder

Where he farms: Near Stouffville, York Region
What he farms: Corn, soybeans, wheat and white beans
Acreage: 2,500
His tips:

• Make sure your drainage is as good as it can be.
• Quick and efficient is important for tillage.
• Make sure your operators are trained and they're happy because people are what make everything go.